Tamping tool



March 15, 1955 F. c. BRIGGS TAMPING TOOL Original Filed Oct. 3, 1950 INVENTOR Zia/waif 63.32";

ATTORNEE United States Patent TAMPING TOOL Francis C. Briggs, Idaho Falls, Idaho, assignor of one-half to W. J. Prout Continuation of application Serial No. 188,145, October 3, 1950. This application June 28, 1951, Serial No. 234,127

Claims. (Cl. 104-13) This invention relates to a tamping tool, and is a continuation of my application Serial No. 188,145, filed October 3, 1950, now abandoned.

Conventional tamping bars are used for tamping ballast such as crushed rock, gravel, cinders, etc., around railroad tracks. Such tools are relatively heavy and require substantial labor in their use.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel type of tamping tool, and particularly a tool for tamping ballast under railroad ties, wherein a high degree of efiiciency is attained and wherein the tool may be used with less strain on a workman.

A further object is to provide such a tool wherein the working edge of the blade is arranged at such an angle with respect to the handle as to facilitate the tamping of ballast under railroad ties, and wherein the resiliency of the blade tends to absorb shock to prevent the full transmission of shock to the hands and arms of the workman.

A further object is to provide such a tool wherein both the blade and handle shank are formed of resilient material to facilitate the use of the device and to absorb shocks incident to the use of the tool.

A further object is to provide a tamping tool having a blade so formed that the working edge thereof is in a plane slightly in advance of the plane of the handle so as to be fully visible, and wherein the shaping of the resilient blade renders most of the blade invisible over the top of the handle while at the same time increasing the degree of resiliency of the blade.

A further object is to provide a tamping tool of this character wherein foot pressure means is associated with the blade to permit a workman, while standing on one foot, to apply pressure to the blade to assist in the tamping operation, when desired.

Other objects and advantages of the present inven' tion will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing, I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing,

Figure l is a perspective view of the tamping tool,

Figure 2 is an edge elevation thereof,

Figure 3 is a face view of the same,

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view on line 44 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detailed sectional view on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

The device forming the subject matter of the present invention is particularly intended for embodiment in a tool which may be effectively used for tamping crushed rock or other ballast around railroad ties. The tool comprises a preferably straight handle shank 10, which may be tubular or solid, and is preferably formed of spring steel. This handle shank is provided at its upper end with a handle proper 11, preferably formed of steel and curved downwardly at its ends as shown in Figures 1 and 3 to provide for the comfortable and effective gripping of the handle. This member conveniently may be welded to the upper end of the shank 10.

The device further comprises a blade indicated as a whole by the numeral 12. This blade is shaped as shown and is preferably formed of initially fiat spring steel bent rather sharply at its upper end as at 13 and below such curved portion the blade is relatively straight as at 14. At a point spaced from its lower end, the blade is bent slightly as at 15 to provide a working end 16 which is relatively flat and terminates in a tamping edge 17. The

lower extremity 17 is bent about one inch beyond the plane of the flat portion 14 which has been found, in practice, to improve the operation of the device as further described below. As will be apparent in Figure 2, the greater portion of the blade 12 lies behind a plane saassling through the shank 10 and parallel to the edge 17.

uc plane for a purpose to be described.

At its upper edge, the blade 12 has welded thereto a stiffening rod 20 extending substantially beyond the edges of the blade 12 as clearly shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4. Above this rod and welded thereto is arranged a pair of foot rests or foot pressure members 21. These members are arranged in alignment and spaced at their inner ends for the passage therebetween of the handle shank 10. The foot rests 21 are welded in position as at 22, the welding preferably joining the foot rests both to the rod 20 and blade 12, and preferably also to the handle shank 10 as at 23 (Figure 4).

A brace 24, preferably of steel is connected between the handle shank 10 and the curved portion 13 of the blade, as shown in Figure 2. This brace is preferably ground off at its ends to fit the elements to which it is connected, namely the shank 10 and blade 12, and is preferably welded to such elements.

Operation The present tool is particularly used for tamping ballast beneath ties where tracks are to be raised or surfaced. The track is first raised to the desired height, which leaves space under the ties which must be filled and tamped. Men work at each side of a tie and ordinarily use a conventional bar to fill the space beneath the ties and tightly tamp the ballast thereunder. This is done with the present device by tamping the ballast with the working edge 17 while holding the tool with the handle 11. The ballast in most instances is hard and the jabbing of the ballast constantly jars the hands and arms of the worker. It would seem that solid jabs would be more efiective in tamping the ballast, but this has been found not to be the case and a resilient tamping tool tends effectively to apply its force without bouncing from the ballast.

The present tool, therefore, is particularly effective since the use of resilient material for the making of theblade and the bending of the blade provide a degree of resilience which is highly effective and which tends to absorb shocks, thus lessening the strain on the workman.

Because of the uneven nature of the ballast, particularly when crushed rock is used, many of the tamping blows struck result in the transmission of forces which are angular relative to the blade 10 and tend to throw the handle 11 from the hands of the workman, thus requiring a constant tight grip on the handle. The blade 12 is resilient transversely of the plane thereof at any given point, but is relatively rigid otherwise. The use of a resilient handle shank 10 cushions angular forces, thus relieving the transmission of such forces to the hand of the operator. The foot rests 21 constitute foot pressure plates which increase the effectiveness of the device when added steady pressure is desired in the tamping operation. By standing on one foot and applying pressure with the other foot to one of the rests 21, the workman can apply as steady pressure as he desires Whenever such pressure is necessary. This pressure will be resiliently and accordingly effectively applied because of the resiliency of the blade 12.

The curvature of the blade increases the degree of resiliency of the blade, and the blade is effectively braced relative to the shank 10 by means of the brace 24. Below this brace, which is attached to the blade 12 near the top thereof, the resiliency of the blade is fully utilized. The bend 15 not only serves to render the resilience of the blade more effective, but also serves to arrange the working end 16 at the most effective working angle. Forces in the plane of the working end 16 are at an angle to the portion of the blade above the bend 15 and accordingly are largely absorbed by the blade. The angularity of the end 16 assists in the tamping operation beneath the ties without any substantial bending on the part of the workman. The arrangement of the working edge 17 slightly forwardly of a plane parallel thereto and passing edge, however, projects slightly forwardly of such through the shank renders the working end 16 fully visible while locating the edge 17 sufliciently close to such plane to permit it to be applied with accuracy along any line desired. The major portion of the blade 12 is behind the plane referred to and accordingly does not disturb the workmans vision when his eyes are substantially in alignment with the shank 10. This shank is of sulficient length so that the tool, under most conditions, can be used without any necessity for the operators having to stoop.

Necessarily there is considerable strain on the device in the region where the brace is connected to the handle shank. This strain is absorbed largely by the handle shank, which is formed of resilient material, as stated. If rigid material were used in making the handle shank, this shank would have to be materially heavier, and the use of the resilient shank assists in minimizing the weight of the device as a whole. As a matter of fact, the device weighs approximately one-half as much as the conventional tamping bar, and this fact obviously assists in reducing fatigue in the use of the tamper. It has been found that the curved shape of the handles fits the workmans hands much better and this fact, together with the resiliency of the main parts of the device, substantially eliminate the formation of blisters on the hands of the workman.

I claim:

1. A tamping tool for tamping ballast under railroad ties comprising a handle structure including an elongated, relatively straight shank, a resilient metal blade fixed at its upper end to the lower end of said shank and having a lower working edge, said blade having a relatively narrow width and a length several times its width, the upper end portion of said blade extending rearwardly of a plane passing through said shank parallel to said lower working edge and curving relatively sharply downwardly, said blade then extending relatively straight at an angle to said plane and terminating in a working end bent forwardly relative to said straight portion, said working end extending forwardly of said plane and terminating in said working edge, the length, width, thickness, and configuration of said blade and the resilient material of which it is formed, providing a degree of resiliency which is highly effective in tamping ballast under railroad ties, and which tends to absorb shocks, thus lessening the strain on a workman using the tool.

2. A tamping tool as set forth in claim 1 including a brace connected at its ends to said shank and to the relatively sharply curved upper end portion of said blade at a point spaced rearwardly from said shank.

3. A tamping tool for tamping ballast under railroad ties comprising an elongated, relatively straight handle shank, hand grips carried by the upper end of said shank and projecting on opposite sides thereof for accommodating the hands of an operator, a resilient metal blade fixed at its upper end to the lower end of said shank and having a lower working edge, said blade being relatively narrow in width and having a length several times its width, said blade curving relatively sharply rearwardly and downwardly away from said shank and then downwardly and forwardly in a relatively straight portion inclining downwardly toward a plane passing through the handle shank parallel to said working edge, the lower end portion of said blade being bent forwardly relative to said straight portion to form a working end extending forwardly of said plane and terminating in said working edge, the length, width, thickness and configuration of said blade, and the resilient material of which it is formed, providing a degree of resiliency which is highly effective in tamping ballast under railroad ties, and which tends to absorb shocks thus lessening the strain on a workman using the tool.

4. A tamping tool comprising a handle shank having hand grips at its upper end, a transversely fiat spring steel blade fixed at its upper end to the lower end of said shank and having a lower working edge, said blade being relatively narrow in width and having a length several times its Width, said blade being bent between its ends whereby the greater portion of the length of said blade lies rearwardly of a plane passing through the handle shank parallel to said working edge, the lower end of said blade being bent forwardly relative to the adjacent portion of said blade to extend downwardly and forwardly of said plane, and a foot rest comprising sections lying on opposite sides of said shank, said foot rest sections being fixed to the upper end of said blade and projecting outwardly therebeyond, the length, width, thickness and configuration of said blade and the resilient material of which it is formed, providing a degree of resiliency which is highly effective in tamping ballast under railroad ties, and which tends to absorb shock, thus lessening the strain on a workman using the tool.

5. A tamping tool comprising a substantially straight shank having hand grips at the upper end thereof, a stifiening rod fixed to the lower end of said shank and projecting on opposite sides thereof, a resilient metal blade fixed at its upper end to said rod and having a lower working edge, said blade being relatively narrow in width and having a length several times its width, said blade being relatively sharply curved at its upper end downwardly and rearwardly away from said rod and then having an intermediate portion extending downwardly and forwardly toward a plane passing through said shank parallel to said blade and terminating in a working end bent forwardly at an angle to said intermediate portion of the blade to project forwardly of said plane of said shank, foot rest sections arranged on opposite sides of said shank, said sections overlying said rod and being fixed thereto and said rod and said foot rest sections extending outwardly from said shank substantially beyond said blade, and a brace fixed at its upper end of said handle shank above said rod and fixed at its lower end to said sharply curved portion of said blade rearwardly of said rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 172,263 Cummings Ian. 18, 1876 440,933 Telfer Nov. 18, 1890 1,219,818 Hanson Mar. 20, 1917 1,544,370 Burke June 30, 1925 2,016,326 Gillen Oct. 8, 1935 2,247,958 Maxcy July 1, 1941 2,353,990 Blair July 18, 1944 2,579,258 Meckert Dec. 18, 1951 

